Investigators have recovered the two black box flight recorders in the wreckage of the plane that crashed in stormy weather on the Thai holiday island of Phuket Sunday, killing 88 people, according to media reports Monday.
The black boxes would be sent to the United States for analysis.
Phuket deputy governor Vorapot Rajsima said 42 people on board were being treated for their injuries in nearby hospitals, five with critical burns. Most of the people on the budget airliner from Bangkok were European holidaymakers.
Survivors described their escape amid chaos, smoke and fire. They said the plane was trying to land in very bad weather conditions. The pilot tried to land, then attempted to abort as the vehicle left the runway, but the plane started filling with smoke and fires broke out.
Canadian Millie Furlong, 23, said she could see trees bending over in the wind as the plane approached the island amid heavy rain on Sunday. A passenger in front of her caught fire, while one in the back kicked out a plane window. She and her boyfriend managed to escape unscathed.
"Our plane was landing, you can tell it was in trouble, because it kind of landed then came up again the second time," said John Gerard O'Donnell of Ireland, speaking from his hospital bed.
The BBC reported this is Thailand's deadliest aviation accident since December 1998, when 101 people were killed after a Thai Airways crashed on landing near another southern resort.
Source: Xinhua/agencies
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